Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - offseason part III

[My3Sons]

Let's hope Holtz will light it up, and Fitz will just trade half of Johnsson salary and 3rd round pick for future considerations. Or something like that. 5th round pick like in Butcher case would be a huge win.

That makes a lot of sense in my view but veterans typically get the benefit of the doubt.

 

[RSeen]

Not a surprise.

If the roster stays as is and lets say Holtz and Mercer hit their bonuses. Does the LTIR space from Bernier (assuming he is there for the full year), offset those bonuses if they result in us being over the cap?

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

With decent goaltending and health that’s probably close to a playoff team if not a wild card shoo in but I’m skeptical Holtz opens the season in the NHL and given the investment they will probably play Johnsson. Ugh. Also variance being what it is someone will struggle for whatever reason. Good thoughts overall.

After the Whistle guys (Formerly The Instigators) have the Devils as one of the four playoff teams from the Metro which would seem to make these numbers attainable.

But take their prediction with a grain of salt - have the Rangers winning the division and competing for the Cup while the Islanders and Capitals miss the playoffs.

Can't see either of those things happening.

 

[My3Sons]

After the Whistle guys (Formerly The Instigators) have the Devils as one of the four playoff teams from the Atlantic which would seem to make these numbers attainable.

But take their prediction with a grain of salt - have the Rangers winning the division and competing for the Cup while the Islanders and Capitals miss the playoffs.

Can't see either of those things happening.

The Rangers are a real wild card. They still have top tier goaltending and probably very good special teams. If they can just tread water at even strength they could be very good this year. I could see any of thr older teams breaking down and I guess with Backstrom hurting the Caps are the early favorite to regress? They also replaced both goalies which may or may not work.

 

[Bleedred]

After the Whistle guys (Formerly The Instigators) have the Devils as one of the four playoff teams from the Atlantic which would seem to make these numbers attainable.

But take their prediction with a grain of salt - have the Rangers winning the division and competing for the Cup while the Islanders and Capitals miss the playoffs.

Can't see either of those things happening.

The Islanders SUCK. They have a really good, if not ELITE goalie, we're lucky if we have an average one, so I'm not sure why you overrate them. Them missing the playoffs would be no surprise, as they clearly got worse behind the bench. They did (to this point) purge the two washed up pylons on the back end in Chara and Greene, so they did improve there. Romanov is considerably better than either of them. Chara is probably done, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Andy Greene get a PTO from Lou between today and even after the start of camp. Especially if someobody gets injured.

I'd hope most are predicting them to miss the playoffs.

The Capitals? They're a waste of a playoff spot at this point. I kind of feel like Pittsburgh is too, but I think even they're a little better than Washington is.

The Caps are a waste of a playoff spot, since they're damn near a guarantee to go out in round one. They haven't won a round since they won the cup in 2018, but I think there's a good chance they still make the playoffs. It's almost like they're a guarantee to both make the playoffs and get a first round exit, but they're due to miss at some point. Signed a very good, but 32 year old injury case goalie and an AHL guy to be their backup because they were capped out.

 

[Devils731]

If the roster stays as is and lets say Holtz and Mercer hit their bonuses. Does the LTIR space from Bernier (assuming he is there for the full year), offset those bonuses if they result in us being over the cap?

Bernier being on LTIR doesn’t decrease the Devils amount spent on the cap.

A player being on LTIR allows you to go over the cap maximum.

Players being on LTIR will never help you avoid after season bonus penalties; it can only hurt.

 

[Tusks Up]

Is it possible or necessary that the Devils have internal discussions about getting faceoffs taken for Jack?

35% is just not an acceptable level for someone in the dot, but obviously Jack has to be at center to drive play everywhere like he does. Is it not feasible to have a winger with him who consistently takes faceoffs , and then as soon as possible switch during play? It sounds clunky but I dont think itd be too bad?

Im not sure. But its a problem even if faceoffs arent all that big of a deal, and when they are he isnt taking them anyway. Just thinking about it from a previous discussion on here

 

[NjDevsRR]

The Islanders SUCK. They have a really good, if not ELITE goalie, we're lucky if we have an average one, so I'm not sure why you overrate them.

You answered your question in the second sentence lol. Top 5 goaltending can taje you far in a league full of shit goaltending.

 

[BurntToast]

The interesting thing about the Caps, they took a known in Vitek and (basically) traded him for Kuemper.

Kuemper has played over 50 games only twice. He also looked gassed at times, and had terrible games in the playoffs.

I also feel you need to look at the Grubauer situation. The Caps aren’t as good as the Av’s.

The Canes let their 2nd line center walk and had to bring in a bunch of old dudes.

There is a chance..

 

[Goptor]

Is it possible or necessary that the Devils have internal discussions about getting faceoffs taken for Jack?

35% is just not an acceptable level for someone in the dot, but obviously Jack has to be at center to drive play everywhere like he does. Is it not feasible to have a winger with him who consistently takes faceoffs , and then as soon as possible switch during play? It sounds clunky but I dont think itd be too bad?

Im not sure. But its a problem even if faceoffs arent all that big of a deal, and when they are he isnt taking them anyway. Just thinking about it from a previous discussion on here

They subbed him out last season in specific situations. Zacha, Sharangovich, and Mercer all played center before.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Is it possible or necessary that the Devils have internal discussions about getting faceoffs taken for Jack?

35% is just not an acceptable level for someone in the dot, but obviously Jack has to be at center to drive play everywhere like he does. Is it not feasible to have a winger with him who consistently takes faceoffs , and then as soon as possible switch during play? It sounds clunky but I dont think itd be too bad?

Im not sure. But its a problem even if faceoffs arent all that big of a deal, and when they are he isnt taking them anyway. Just thinking about it from a previous discussion on here

Faceoffs are next to meaningless.

 

[njdevils1982]

Faceoffs are next to meaningless.

FOGO!

 

[McDuffz88]

Faceoffs are next to meaningless.

I wouldn't agree with that at all.

 

[Bleedred]

The interesting thing about the Caps, they took a known in Vitek and (basically) traded him for Kuemper.

Kuemper has played over 50 games only twice. He also looked gassed at times, and had terrible games in the playoffs.

I also feel you need to look at the Grubauer situation. The Caps aren’t as good as the Av’s.

The Canes let their 2nd line center walk and had to bring in a bunch of old dudes.

There is a chance..

Grubauer was good even before Colorado though, albeit in a more reduced role. And Kuemper was very good in Arizona. Kuemper has been a .920% goalie since 17-18, including games played in the playoffs.

I do think he could potentially fall apart soon though. He’s an injury case and already 32 years old. So it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing to see him fall apart as early as this season. And the guy they signed to be the backup is a career minor league/third string NHL goalie that they gave a 3 year deal because they’re capped out and he’s so cheap. I remember they did something similar with Pheonix Copley and he spent two of those years in the minors.

Kuemper is actually a bit underrated this off-season, which is almost definitely because of his weak playoffs where the Avalanche won the cup in spite of him. He had a very good regular season though and I think the Avalanche will likely lose some points in the regular season standings by replacing him with Georgiev.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Is it possible or necessary that the Devils have internal discussions about getting faceoffs taken for Jack?

35% is just not an acceptable level for someone in the dot, but obviously Jack has to be at center to drive play everywhere like he does. Is it not feasible to have a winger with him who consistently takes faceoffs , and then as soon as possible switch during play? It sounds clunky but I dont think itd be too bad?

Im not sure. But its a problem even if faceoffs arent all that big of a deal, and when they are he isnt taking them anyway. Just thinking about it from a previous discussion on here

JT Miller did this all the time for Elias Pettersson who is garbage on the dot.

The only person on the team who could currently fit this role is Erik Huala. It would mean that Mercer shifts to 3C.

Huala-Hughes-Sharangovich
Palat-Hischier-Bratt
Johnsson-Mercer-Tatar
Wood-McLeod-Bastian

 

[Bleedred]

You answered your question in the second sentence lol. Top 5 goaltending can taje you far in a league full of shit goaltending.

Are you sure it will be because of goaltending though and not because Lou is still great and the winning culture?

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I wouldn't agree with that at all.

we argue about this every few months, but they pretty much are irrelevant.

Yes, there are always key moments in a game where you'd prefer to win the FO rather than lose it, but the point still stands. There are approximately ~60 faceoffs per game in the NHL. The difference between a 55% FO guy and a 45% FO guy is 6 faceoffs per game, or 2 per period. And I would argue taht even a faceoff 'win' doesnt always turn into possession for that team anyways.

Its next to meaningless. In general, sure I guess you'd want a guy who wins them more than he loses them on average, but you should not be making any roster decisions based on it is my point.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Faceoffs are next to meaningless.

I wouldn't agree with that at all.

 

[My3Sons]

JT Miller did this all the time for Elias Pettersson who is garbage on the dot.

The only person on the team who could currently fit this role is Erik Huala. It would mean that Mercer shifts to 3C.

Huala-Hughes-Sharangovich
Palat-Hischier-Bratt
Johnsson-Mercer-Tatar
Wood-McLeod-Bastian

If Mercer shifts to 3C where is Hischier going to play?

 

[BurntToast]

Grubauer was good even before Colorado though, albeit in a more reduced role. And Kuemper was very good in Arizona. Kuemper has been a .920% goalie since 17-18, including games played in the playoffs.

I do think he could potentially fall apart soon though. He’s an injury case and already 32 years old. So it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing to see him fall apart as early as this season. And the guy they signed to be the backup is a career minor league/third string NHL goalie that they gave a 3 year deal because they’re capped out and he’s so cheap. I remember they did something similar with Pheonix Copley and he spent two of those years in the minors.

Kuemper is actually a bit underrated this off-season, which is almost definitely because of his weak playoffs where the Avalanche won the cup in spite of him. He had a very good regular season though and I think the Avalanche will likely lose some points in the regular season standings by replacing him with Georgiev.

I disagree. Yes, his stats look great but he has been a mostly a backup, who got lucky to play for the Av’s. The dude is 32 and last season was his first real work load and he struggled.

 

[MadDevil]

View attachment 583145

Dammit, I had "faceoffs" down for next week on the off-season roulette wheel!

 

[Devils731]

Dammit, I had "faceoffs" down for next week on the off-season roulette wheel!

How about that goal song, huh?

 

[RSeen]

Bernier being on LTIR doesn’t decrease the Devils amount spent on the cap.

A player being on LTIR allows you to go over the cap maximum.

Players being on LTIR will never help you avoid after season bonus penalties; it can only hurt.

We need to trade Johnsson or Tatar etc., then because why would we allow ourselves to get hit with overages at this point in our trajectory?

 

[NjDevsRR]

Dammit, I had "faceoffs" down for next week on the off-season roulette wheel!

 

[Bleedred]

I disagree. Yes, his stats look great but he has been a mostly a backup, who got lucky to play for the Av’s. The dude is 32 and last season was his first real work load and he struggled.

He didn’t struggle at all until the playoffs. He was a .921% in the regular season.

He got hit in the eye with a stick in I think it was game 3 of the playoffs? It was scary and honestly looked like he might be out the rest of the playoffs when it first happened. That explains the poor play upon returning.

He hasn’t really been a backup for the last 5 years, but no doubt he misses a lot of games and that’s due to injury. Guy is a complete injury case and that’s why I think he might be close to done, at least with being a good goalie in the NHL.

But I see no point in arguing his results over the last 5 years. Does he miss a lot of games? Definitely.

But he’s getting kind of underrated at this point. Especially when he’s losing (so far) in polls over on the main board to John Gibson (there’s the league’s most overrated goalie currently) in goalie rankings.